Straw Poll signoff

I didn't think this day would come so soon, but life is full of surprises, some wonderful, some tolerable and some downright ugly.

This is a good one. My fiancee recently took a job in Hartford, and I'll be heading out there with her later this month. The downside is that I'll be saying goodbye to the Poughkeepsie Journal on Thursday, and the short, happy life of Straw Poll shall come to an end.

This blog has developed a small but devoted following in the past few months. I suspect that most of you are folks on the inside of government keeping tabs on the folks around you, though I'm sure other readers are average people on the outside looking in. (Like spectators at the zoo, perhaps?)

At any rate, I'm sure this won't be the last, nor the best, local politics blog to be launched by the Poughkeepsie Journal, so stay tuned. And in the meantime, I hope you all do your part to keep government officials in check.

The joy of committees

Back from vacation, I have updates to pass along on two committees formed by the Dutchess Legislature.

The first is the county tax policy committee, which formed in January to figure out what to do if revenues fall short of expenses and how to distribute taxes fairly. This committee was supposed to submit a report by June 1, but several factors led to delays, including a mistakenly long public comment period and committee members' vacations, Chairman Joe Davis said.

Davis said this morning that a final report would be submitted soon. He never said he meant today. Sure enough, later today, a quick call to the county Legislature revealed that Davis had sped up the process and dropped off a copy of the report.

Its conclusions: Taxes raised by county government appear to be adequate and “as fair as can be expected given the complexity of and limitations on county tax policy."

That's more than has been produced yet by the county's 11-member WiFi committee, which is supposed to consider how the county might create a county-wide wireless Internet network.

The Legislature asked for a final report by Oct. 15 and a progress report by today. A quick call to the county Legislature revealed that the committee hasn't even met yet.

More TGIF tidbits

Members of Congress voted themselves a 2.7 percent cost-of-living pay increase starting later this year. U.S. Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, who voted against the $4,400 a year increase, said he would donate the extra pay to charity. He'll decide which charity later this summer, before the increase takes effect Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, Hall also drew fire this week from potential election opponent Kieran Michael Lalor of Peekskill, who criticized Hall for not staking a clearer position on immigration. Lalor touted his own hard-line approaches to cracking down on illegal immigration. He is considering a run for the Republican nomination to challenge Hall in November 2008.

In Dutchess County politics, a proposed domestic partnership registry is back on the county Legislature's agenda. Republican leaders had pulled the legislation creating the registry, citing a missing dollar figure, but Democratic sponsors submitted a revised copy with the figure. It is scheduled for discussion Thursday at the Government Services & Administration Committee meeting.

And finally, expect to see local party faithful scurrying about town the next few weeks as they gather signatures by the July 19 deadline for nominating petitions. You might say the election season doesn't officially start until the close of business that day. Or you might say the last election season never really ended.

Have a good weekend. Straw Poll will return on Wednesday.

Conservatives endorse Republicans

Not many surprises in the Conservative Party endorsements for elected offices in Dutchess County government this year. The party is nearly unwavering in its support for Republicans.

The Republicans' four-man slate for county-wide elections in November is the Conservatives' slate. That would be incumbents Bill Steinhaus for executive, Butch Anderson for sheriff, Bill Grady for district attorney and Brad Kendall for clerk.

And in the 25 legislative districts, 20 of the Republican candidates for county Legislature received Conservative endorsements.

The other Conservative endorsements are Jim Doxsey, a Conservative running in District 1 with the backing of county Demcorats; Sue Tooker, the Democratic candidate in District 2, and Dominick Aquafredda, a District 10 candidate who was registered with the Independence Party as of last year.

The Conservatives have yet to endorse anyone in Districts 14 and 15, where the Legislature's Democratic leaders Roger Higgins and Sandy Goldberg were running unopposed at last check.

How important is a Conservative endorsement? That's debatable, but it's fair to say the party's influence is greater than its numbers. In Dutchess County, 3,381 voters were enrolled as Conservatives as of April, when the latest statistics were compiled by the State Elections Board. That translates to about 2 percent of all county voters.

What's in store for Saland and Leibell?

Expect some good-natured ribbing Tuesday night when Dutchess County's two state senators submit to a roast organized by the Dutchess County Young Republicans.

What else could this mean for Sen. Steve Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, and Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson? The ghost of Dean Martin, bad jokes and uncomfortable anecdotes? You'll have to attend to find out (at $55 a ticket).

The event will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Links in Union Vale. For more information contact Young Republicans Chairman Bryan Cranna at 845-757-3933, or visit www.dutchessyr.com.

McGuire says she's in it to win it

Susan McGuire caught some people by surprise by declaring her candidacy for Dutchess County clerk on the Independence Party line. What had been shaping up as a contest between Clerk Brad Kendall, the Republican, and former Clerk Dick Anderson, the Democrat, has become a three-way race for one of the top jobs in county government.

And you thought the county executive race would be exciting.

Straw Poll checked in with McGuire today to get the inside scoop.

First of all, there is the matter of McGuire’s employment. She had been working as human resources director for the Town of Fishkill, but she took an unpaid leave of absence starting Feb. 1 for “personal family reasons.” She still has the option of returning to the job later this year, but she has yet to decide whether she will.

“Right now, what I’d like to do is win the county clerk seat,” she said.

McGuire, a 51-year-old Fishkill resident, said she changed her party affiliation from Republican to Indpendence shortly after losing a close race for the District 16 seat in the county Legislature to Democrat Alison MacAvery in November 2005. She sees the Independence Party as a welcome alternative to the two major parties, and she sees herself as a viable alternative to the two other clerk candidates.

McGuire’s boss at the Town of Fishkill was Supervisor Joan Pagones, who had sought a governor’s appointment to county clerk last fall but was passed over for the job by Gov. George Pataki in favor of Kendall. McGuire dismissed speculation that Pagones influenced her decision to run for the job this year.

“I think she was just as shocked as Brad Kendall and Dick Anderson,” McGuire said. “The truth is, I honestly feel it’s the right thing to do.”

Campaign wordplay on a sunny day

Wappinger Supervisor Joe Ruggiero got the endorsement today of the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council in his race for Dutchess County executive.

That's not entirely surprising given that labor traditionally is a Democratic constituency, and Ruggiero is a Democrat, though Council President Todd Diorio also said County Executive Bill Steinhaus, a Republican, hadn't attended union meetings or candidate interviews when asked.

As Diorio gave his brief speech, I followed along on his press release and was amused by this misspelling of the county executive's name: "Steinhouse."

I certainly don't bring this up to mock Diorio or his affiliated unions – more to highlight the idiosyncracies, for lack of a better term, between written and oral communication. (I'm hardly one to criticize someone's spelling, as I clutch my Webster's New World Dictionary like a security blanket.)

Perhaps a more relevant observation – though only slightly more relevant – was the way Ruggiero described Steinhaus in accepting the endorsement. As with many political candidates, he dispensed with the proper name altogether for the impersonal "my opponent."

Suddenly a three-way race for county clerk

Behind the Independence Party’s endorsement for Dutchess County clerk, there are a few intriguing wrinkles worth ironing out.

The party announced Tuesday that it had chosen Susan McGuire to face off in November against incumbent County Clerk Brad Kendall, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Dick Anderson.

Who is McGuire?

First of all, she is the treasurer of the county Independence Party, which has Dennis Zack as its chairman. Zack also is a councilman in the Town of Fishkill, and McGuire works for the town as human resources director.

McGuire was registered as a Republican as of last year, and she ran as a Republican two years ago in the race for county Legislature in District 16 but lost to Democrat Alison MacAvery.

McGuire’s boss is Joan Pagones, the Republican town supervisor in Fishkill. Pagones had sought the county clerk job last fall after Clerk Colette Lafuente announced her retirement, but Gov. George Pataki chose to appoint Kendall instead to finish Lafuente's term.

As for Dick Anderson, he served for a term as county clerk until he was unseated by Lafuente, a Republican, in the 2003 election.

Whew! That’s a lot to digest.

District 1 a race to watch

The parties are finalizing their slates of candidates for the Dutchess Legislature in anticipation of an epic battle for control of county government in November. One race to watch might be the District 1 contest, which is without an incumbent.

Legislator Patrick Nesbitt, R-Poughkeepsie, is choosing not to run after four years in office so he can spend more time with his family and focus on his new job (he recently was promoted to detective in the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department.)

Taking his place on the Republican line is Jeff Magee, an IBMer who lives down the road from Nesbitt on Cedar Street.

The Democrats, meanwhile, have chosen to back Jim Doxsey, who is enrolled as a conservative. If elected, he would caucus with the Democrats.

Gillibrand in the cross hairs

There must be more people gunning for New York's 20th Congressional District seat than there are candidates for president in 2008. And U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, hasn't even made it to the half-year mark in office.

Today, I got an e-mail promoting a small-donations pledge from two more 20th District candidates, a Republican named John Wallace from Columbia County and a Democrat named Morris Guller from Greene County. Other announced and rumored candidates include Richard Wager, Sandy Treadwell and John Sweeney, the incumbent whom Gillibrand beat in November.

As a reporter who has covered a handful of Congressional elections in the past, I find this quite refreshing. When I worked in Wausau, Wis., the congressman was House Appropriations heavyweight Dave Obey, our hometown Democrat, who has been in office since Nixon was president. Needless to say, elections in Wisconsin's 7th District were humdrum affairs. No Democrat ever challenged Obey. The Republicans didn't even bother looking for a legitimate candidate. And most of the poor underdogs who ran against Obey were little more than sacrificial lambs.

What's different about Gillibrand?

First of all, she's new. It's nearly impossible to beat Obey now that he has served so many years in Congress. As a freshman congresswoman, however, Gillibrand is still vulnerable. This may be the Republicans' best chance of ousting her before she becomes one of those unbeatable incumbents.

The other big factor is the 20th District, which stretches from Poughkeepsie north toward the Canadian border. Its electorate is heavily Republican – 43 percent of registered voters as of April, compared to 25 percent of voters registered as Democrats. So Gillibrand pulled off quite the upset last year, and Republicans figure its their turn in November 2008.

In the 19th District, where Democrat John Hall also upset an incumbent Republican in November, Republicans still have the edge but not by much. Of all registered voters as of April, 36 percent were Republicans and 33 percent were Democrats, according to the latest data from the State Elections Board.

Of course, it's insanely early for most voters to be thinking about the next election when Gillibrand still has three fourths of her two-year term left to serve. But the political world follows a different schedule. Potential candidates have to get their momentum going now or forget about booking that victory party on election night.

As for Dave Obey, the best the Republicans can hope for is that he gets tapped for a cabinet job in the next president's administration. After all, President Bush did Democrats a favor in 2001 when he named Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson as health and human services secretary, paving the way for Democrat Jim Doyle to win the gubernatorial election in 2002. But I digress.

Wager to leave job, hit campaign trail

Richard Wager checked in today to pass along this news: He's planning to leave his job in New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration at the end of the month to begin campaigning for Congress full time in July.

"Things are coming together awfully well!" Wager said in an e-mail.

Wager is vying for the Republican nomination in the 20th District to challenge U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from Hudson who was elected to her first two-year term in November. Gillibrand will be up for re-election in November 2008.

Wager, a native of Hyde Park, recently bought a house in the Millbrook area. He is the son of former Poughkeepsie Journal publisher Dick Wager.

Ball makes the "society pages"

The Washington Post has been digging up some dirt on Greg Ball, the freshman New York Assemblyman from Carmel. In a story today, the paper links Ball's annual Courage Cup polo match, which raises money for a charity, to a political action committee that later contributed to Ball's Assembly campaign.

Ball called the story a "hit piece" prompted by his ongoing battle with an ex-girlfriend over control of the Courage Cup. After all, the story ran in the Post's Style section – what once might have been called the "the society pages."

The story's placement in the Post makes sense, given that the newspaper's local angles are the Courage Cup and the tiff with the ex-girlfriend.

Back home, where most of his constituents probably have never even heard of the Courage Cup, the question for Ball is whether there was any political funny stuff going on.

Ball insists the answer is no. The Courage Cup earns the money it gives to charity by selling tent space to organizations that then can sell tickets to the event. In 2005, one of those organizations happened to be the political action committee, and he was not involved in the committee at the time, he said.

TGIF tidbits

Dutchess County Executive Bill Steinhaus participated with other county executives from the region in a forum Thursday on potential solutions to a variety of problems in the Hudson Valley. Steinhaus makes a reference in that story to affordable housing, but Westchester Executive Andrew Spano has the more colorful quote, about dancing the Funky Chicken.

Dutchess Legislator Joel Tyner, meanwhile, is preparing for one of his long walks to raise awareness of county issues. Tyner, D-Clinton, plans to leave at 10 a.m. today from the Rhinebeck town hall and trek 13 miles to the Clinton town hall carrying a sign promoting a county-coordinated, privately funded program to distribute compact fluorescent bulbs that would conserve energy. (On a fitness note: Tyner must have calves of steel after walking so many miles for so many causes.)

Republicans in the state Assembly are holding a two-hour forum on property tax reform at 10 a.m. today at the East Fishkill town hall, 330 Route 376, Hopewell Junction. Ball, Molinaro and Miller should be there, as well as several representatives of taxpayer groups and school districts. The public is invited. And my apologies for an error in today's print edition of the Journal, which reported the wrong starting time of the forum. It's correct here.

And if you're around Saturday, stop by the LaGrange Community Day at Freedom Park on Skidmore Road. U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, plans to be there at 2 p.m. for the latest stop in her "Congress at Your Corner" series. You can call it, for one day at least, "Congress at Your Community Day."

County GOP Election Roundup: Spring Edition

Looking back at my posts so far this month, I realized I've been devoting an inordinate number of pixels to the Dutchess Democrats. I have to attribute this to old-fashioned newspaper bias: Voting no often makes for better news stories than voting yes.

In pursuit of that ever-elusive ideal of balance, I checked in this morning with Dutchess County Republican Committee Chairwoman Corinne Weber, who was in her car on Interstate 87 heading south toward Maryland. (Cell phone in the car? No lawbreaker here. Weber had a hands-free device, she said.)

The Republicans' lineup for the fall hasn't really been a surprise for a while – maybe not since the last election or before, with one exception.

All four party incumbents in county-wide offices will be in the running in November. That means County Executive Bill Steinhaus, County Clerk Brad Kendall, District Attorney Bill Grady and Sheriff Butch Anderson.

“How can you beat that ticket?” Weber said.

The exception to this somewhat anti-climactic ticket is Kendall, who was appointed in December to fill out the rest of retiring Colette Lafuente's term. November will be his first county-wide election, and that makes him the most vulnerable of the four Republicans by default.

Weber isn't worried about Kendall, though the party is keenly aware of its losses two years ago in the Legislature. The Democrats gained four seats, reducing the Republicans' majority to one.

"It's of great concern," Weber said, "but we're not only looking to maintain what we have but get a few more back."

Dems vs. DCC: The movie

The meeting Wednesday night between the Dutchess Legislature's Democratic caucus and top Dutchess Community College officials featured a diverse cast of characters and some lively dialogue.

Not enough for boffo box office in the summer blockbuster season, but an intriguing scene all the same.

Legislator Fred Knapp of Poughkeepsie was typecast as the enforcer. He is an outspoken opponent of the college's annual tuition increases, and he made it clear he wasn't happy with the new increase. He also took the hardest line on withholding support for DCC's improvement bond without concessions on tuition.

"You want a bond resolution?" he said. "We want a budget with no tuition increase – this year. How do we get there?"

He made that argument twice during the meeting.

A new vote on the defeated bond resolution could come Monday at the Legislature's monthly meeting. The DCC budget with a $100 tuition increase is scheduled to be approved by the Legislature in July.

In asking for the Democrats' support for the bond resolution, DCC Board President Thomas LeGrand and Trustee Vincent DiMaso seemed to take on the good cop/bad cop roles. LeGrand came offering the proverbial olive branch while emphasizing that the college needs to move forward with the improvements, with the Legislature's help.

"I don't believe we have a troubled relationship. I think we have a good relationship," he said, adding that the college and the Democrats just seem to be at odds on tuition.

DiMaso fought back directly against some of the Democrats' criticisms, their opposition to the tuition increase and their defeat last month of the bond.

It's hard to pick one quote as representative – so many good ones – and like a good movie you had to see it to appreciate it. But DiMaso seemed to sum up his arguments with this: "You should have come to us first before making this vote."

Minority Leader Roger Higgins of New Hamburg, the Democrats' ringleader, moved the meeting along while pointing out that he personally made the Democrats' case to the DCC board last month just before it approved the tuition increase anyway.

"There was no effort at all made to try to compromise," Higgins said.

Toward the end of the meeting, DCC President David Conklin played the pragmatist and caught the Democrats' attention when he said that the Legislature's Republican leadership "didn't want a $100 increase. A $100 increase is a victory."

The implication was that the Republicans would have preferred an even larger tuition increase to offset more of the county tax dollars in the college's budget.

How will it end? Stay tuned for the sequel Monday night.

Until then, there are the previews, such as Poughkeepsie Legislator Barbara Jeter-Jackson's assessment of the minority party's chances of reversing the tuition increase this year.

"Until there is a majority on this side, it's not going to happen," she said after the DCC officials had left.

Dems pick Joe, Dick, ?, ?

The Dutchess County Democratic Committee made it officials Tuesday night and designated Joe Ruggiero as the party's candidate for county executive and Dick Anderson as the candidate for county clerk.

Ruggiero is the Wappinger town supervisor and chairman of the county party. Anderson is a former county clerk, who was unseated in 2003 by Republican Colette Lafuente, who retired last December.

The Democrats still don't have anyone yet to challenge District Attorney Bill Grady or Sheriff Butch Anderson, but they still have time.

“We certainly are actively continuing to look for qualified candidates who would step forward for those positions," said Jane Barbara Smith, who stepped down Tuesday night from her role as the committee's vice chairwoman. (She said she wants to focus on her candidacy for Dutchess Legislature. She is challenging Legislator Rob Rolison, R-Poughkeepsie, in District 8.)

The Democrats also are scheduled tonight to heap praise on Beacon Councilman Steve Gold as the party's candidate for mayor. A news conference is set for 6 p.m. at Howland Cultural Center. The Republican candidate is former Councilman Fred Antalek.

DCC to make case to Democrats

The Dutchess Community College bond resolution defeated last month by Democratic legislators isn't dead yet. The college's president and board president are scheduled to attend the Democratic caucus meeting Wednesday evening, perhaps to let bygones be bygones.

The Dutchess Legislature already passed one bond resolution pledging to borrow half of the cost of $2 million in improvements. The new resolution included modifications but no additional cost, and it was opposed by Democrats in what Assistant Minority Leader Sandy Goldberg said was a message to college officials to listen to their concerns.

If the college officials listen and the Democrats are mollified, the resolution could come up for another vote Monday and pass. End of story.

But Goldberg suggested that, even then, the bygones within the Legislature won't be bygone. The Republicans still hold a mere one-vote majority, and relations between the two parties are strained. They could continue to be strained at least through the November elections.

County Dems to hold convention

The Republicans held their convention last month. Now it's the Democrats' turn.

The Dutchess County Democratic Committee will hold its convention at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Polish-American Club, 19 N. Bridge St., Poughkeepsie. The committee is expected to endorse Wappinger Supervisor Joe Ruggiero for county executive. Former County Clerk Dick Anderson is expected to get the nomination for clerk.

If that's all the endorsing the committee does, then District Attorney Bill Grady and Sheriff Butch Anderson, both Republicans, could be looking at uncontested races in November.

Dutchess Dems make it online

I stand corrected. The Dutchess County Democratic Committee has its new Web site up and running, contrary to my post from yesterday. My problem was that I was trying the wrong address. It's dutchessdem.com.

Now we can watch the two parties duke it out in cyberspace for control of the county. The Democrats' new site looks a tad more professional than the Republicans' site, but I'm no expert on Web design. Anyone care to critique the two sites?

Legislative replay: Clarification & addendum

After reading over my post yesterday about the Dutchess Democrats' vote on mortgage tax distribution, I realized at least one detail might not have been clear: The measure passed, even with all 12 Democrats voting no. So the county's 30 municipalities will continue to receive the money they were expecting to balance their budgets.

But what does this mean for party politics and the proper functioning of county government? You could make the argument that it doesn't matter what the minority Democrats do. As long as the Republicans do the right thing, all is well because they have the majority. You also could make the argument that the Democrats, though in many ways powerless, have an important role in a 13-12 Legislature – the role of the opposition, putting pressure on the party in power. After all, they only need one Republican defector to become a majority.

A completely different dynamic occurs when the Legislature votes on bond resolutions, which need 17 votes for approval. The May 14 board meeting offered a perfect example. All 13 Republicans and Bill McCabe, D-LaGrangeville, voted in favor of borrowing money for improvement projects at Dutchess Community College. The measure failed because the other 11 Democrats voted against it. What does this mean for the projects? More on that soon.

Legislative replay: Democrats mistaken, confused

I was on vacation on May 14 when the Legislature held its last board meeting, so I had to catch up via the Legislature's streaming online video of the meeting. I'm starting to wish I hadn't been on vacation. (OK, that's a lie. Vacation was great. I just wish I hadn't missed that meeting.)

Here's why:

Resolution 136 would seem to be a mundane item, a boilerplate vote to authorize distribution of mortgage tax revenues to the cities, towns and villages. The money is significant – more than $1 million just for the Town of Poughkeepsie, more than $7 million across the county from six months worth of collections. The votes on such measures usually aren't significant. Unanimous approvals.

But this time all 12 Democrats voted against the measure. Huh?

I shouldn't have been surprised. All five Democrats in the Budget, Finance and Personnel Committee had voted against the measure days earlier. I found this odd, so I asked Minority Leader Roger Higgins afterward what the deal was. When he began to state the Democrats' case against the mortgage tax increase backed by the Republicans, I had to stop him. That was a different resolution, I said. This was just to distribute the money already collected.

Higgins seemed surprised and muttered something about a mistake being made in the vote. I didn't think much more about it, figuring the mistake would be corrected by the full board meeting.

It wasn't. The Democrats again voted no.

Later in the meeting, some seemed to realize their mistake and questioned the way the resolutions were presented. Here is my amateur transcription of the scene that took place, starring Chairman Gary Cooper, R-Pine Plains; Minority Leader Higgins, D-New Hamburg; Assistant Minority Leader Sandy Goldberg, D-Wappingers Falls, and Legislator Fred Bunnell, D-Poughkeepsie. The term "consent agenda" refers to uncontroversial resolutions that are approved together unanimously before debate moves to more controversial items.

HIGGINS: Could you go back and tell me when you pulled 136 out of the consent agenda? I don't think it was mentioned earlier that it was not in the consent agenda. And in fact – in fact, we all voted for the consent agenda earlier with that included in it.

COOPER: No, she did not read that.

HIGGINS: Can you – I'd like to see where that was stated whether it's on the video or in the minutes. I need to see that, because –

COOPER: That wasn't on the consent agenda.

HIGGINS: That's correct. I need to see some evidence of that, because frankly, when we voted for the consent agenda, we all assumed 136 was in the consent agenda. So I need you to show me some kind of evidence of that.

COOPER: Well, the evidence would be, if we played the tape back you would see 136 was not read, or the resolution was not read into the – as a consent agenda item. And it will be there. Legislator Goldberg.

GOLDBERG: Then I would just like to make a comment that my intention was always to vote for 136 —

COOPER: Well, we’re already past that.

GOLDBERG: — and when I assumed I had voted for it and didn’t realize – which was my mistake. I certainly apologize for that – but didn’t understand what we were voting on, and I just want the public record to state that. ...

BUNNELL: In a case such as I think is clearly illustrated by what Legislator Goldberg said – and I would echo for myself what she said – it was an honest confusion about this matter.

Dems lag behind GOP on Web

Whether you come to praise or to bury the Dutchess County Republican Party, you have to give them some credit: At least they've entered the 21st century.

When I first took over this beat last year, it was easy to study the major players and structure of the county's Republican party. It's right there on the Web at www.dutchesscountyrepublicancommittee.org. But to figure out who's who among the county's Democrats and what they were up to? Not nearly so easy. I spent an afternoon trying to find a comparable Web site before finally giving up.

I brought this up recently with the county party's chairman, Joe Ruggiero, and he assured me that the Dutchess Demorcats soon would have a Web presence, too.

Ruggiero already has a Web site promoting his own candidacy for county executive. But the Dutchess County Democrats still have a way to go. If you search Google for "dutchess" and "democrats," the first link is to www.dutchessdemocrats.org with the tagline "Coming soon..." Click on the link and nothing happens. At least not yet.

It's Fred and Steve in Beacon

The Beacon mayoral race is shaping up as a battle between two City Council veterans.

Fred Antalek, a former Republican councilman, announced Wednesday that he will seek to replace Mayor Clara Lou Gould, also a Republican, who isn't seeking re-election in November.

The Democrats have picked Councilman Steve Gold as their candidate for mayor.

Michael Moore at Marist?

Not being an expert on health care and the numerous proposals calling for universal coverage, I found Congressman John Hall's forum on the issue last night at Marist College quite informative, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

But I had a sneaking suspicion that a significant portion of the audience fell under the heading "preaching to the converted." One young man, a Marist student who said he suffers from a disability and from the health insurance nightmare that comes with it, made an impassioned plea for help to John Hall, however, many of the people who addressed the panel identified themselves as affiliated with advocacy organizations, typically Democratic or progressive in nature. Some had set up a display outside the auditorium with signs and pamphlets calling for single-payer national health care coverage, and I rode on the elevator before the forum with a man and his daughter, a Vermont physician, who each clutched signs advocating the same.

Of course, their views count as much as "ordinary" residents, and Hall seemed conscious of the diverse backgrounds of his audience. He also is scheduled to meet later this week with small business owners.

So what does this all have to do with Michael Moore, you ask? Not much. Except that before the forum a young woman, possibly college-age, tried to stick a hand-made sign to the wall outside the auditorium announcing the upcoming release of Moore's new documentary, "Sicko," about the country's health care conundrum.

Hall's chief of staff, Jean Bordewich, sternly told the woman to take the sign down. Hall wanted to hear all points of view, Bordewich said, and wouldn't let the forum be hijacked by one side or the other. Even so, she said it was fine to hand out the informational brochures, which could never hope to be as polarizing as the director of "Fahrenheit 9/11."

County legislators file fiancial disclosures

Most Dutchess County legislators didn't have much to disclose this year. They, and dozens of other county employees, are required by the county's code of ethics to file reports by May 15 identifying any financial relationships in the previous calendar year that might pose conflicts of interest. Straw Poll's review of the legislators' disclosures found only three with something to say.

Chairman Gary Cooper, R-Pine Plains, disclosed that he is a sales representative for Peckham Industries, a company that sells road materials and sometimes submits bids for county and state projects. Cooper also disclosed some vacant land in Amenia and Pine Plains that he owns.

A comment on another local political blog accused Legislator Fred Knapp, D-Poughkeesie, of failing to file his disclosure. He was late, but he filed it. He signed it May 15 and it wasn't received by the county Finance Department until May 18. In it, he acknowledges that his wife, Fran Knapp, is a election commissioner and collects a salary from the county.

And Marc Molinaro, a Republican who represented Red Hook until he left the Legislature in December to take a seat in the state Assembly, said he had no financial relationships to disclose under the county's code of ethics. But he attached a memo that noted he had been the village of Tivoli mayor, his father is employed by the county Department of Public Works and a company he works for has contracts with local municipalities, businesses and nonprofit agencies. He said he would have acted appropriately if these relationships had overlapped with his work as a county legislator.

Post-holiday roundup

A few stories to pass along...

Dick Anderson announced today that he's back in the running for the Dutchess County clerk on the Democratic ticket after he was unseated in 2003 by Republican Colette Lafuente. If he gets the nomination, his Republican challenger in November will be Brad Kendall, who was appointed to the position last year after Lafuente retired.

Republicans are using a new radio add to link U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in votes on peanuts and fish. Sounds like an interesting entree, but there's more to this story than a high-protein diet.

And Gov. Eliot Spitzer was in Pine Plains on Monday to participate in the town's Memorial Day parade and ceremonies. Spitzer, who owns a home nearby in Columbia County, says he likes the local coffee.

Murphy followup

A couple quick followup notes on tributes to the late Michael Murphy:

1) Dutchess County flew a county flag Friday morning over 22 Market St. and then lowered it halfway in Murphy's honor. The flag was given to Murphy's family later in the day during the burial ceremony at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Millbrook.

2) County Executive William Steinhaus said the start of the Dutchess Rail Trail near Morgan Lake in Poughkeepsie will be named the Michael P. Murphy Trailhead, one of four trailheads planned along the 12 mile trail from Poughkeepsie to Hopewell Junction. The county's rail trails were among Murphy's most prized projects as public works commissioner. Construction of part of the Dutchess Rail Trail is expected to start this year.

Michael Murphy: 1952-2007

Even the most experienced reporters worry that they will come back from an assignment with nothing to write. I found myself today with the opposite problem: I couldn't keep my pen moving fast enough to get down everything said today at the funeral for Michael Murphy.

By the end, my notebook was filled with quotes, some nearly illegible from my rapid scrawlings, all with high praise for the life of Murphy, a longtime public servant who most recently worked as Dutchess County's public works commissioner.

Here is one.

"Mike was in his glory when he was surrounded by his friends, of which there were so many," said Steve Wing, who delivered the eulogy. "And when you became Mike's friend, you became his friend for life."

Reporters have to keep an objective distance from their sources, and this can be difficult when those sources are genuinely decent and inspiring people. I never got to know Murphy that well, let alone enough to become his friend, though several of my colleagues in the newsroom here knew him for years and were shaken by the news of his death.

I think I learned of Murphy's cancer last fall around county budget time. I was told that he had taken a turn for the worse, and the outlook was grim. But then, maybe a month later, I saw him again at a Legislature meeting, seemingly back to normal. He continued working to the end.

Since then, after hearing stories about the man, I wish I knew him better. The word "dignity" kept coming to my mind, though I know the word is limited. Only one of many to describe Murphy's clear passion for life and the people he served.

Wells: Possible election issue?

With Republicans and Democrats in Dutchess County staking out opposite positions on the issue of mandated tests of private wells before home sales, the issue is sure to make its way into political campaigns this fall.

Both sides could use the issue to their advantage. Most Republicans argue that well tests are essential but should remain voluntary. Democrats say a law mandating the tests would educate property owners and protect homebuyers.

A county-wide well-testing measure was passed by the Dutchess Legislature in January, mostly along party lines, but it was blocked by a veto by County Executive Bill Steinhaus, a Republican.

Meanwhile, Westchester County passed its own law this week mandating private well tests. Rockland is the only other county in the state to require such tests.

County Dems Election Roundup: Spring Edition

Straw Poll checked in today with Dutchess Democratic Party Chairman Joe Ruggiero to see how the party's ticket is shaping up for the November elections.

Ruggiero is at the top of that ticket after declaring Tuesday that he would run for county executive against Bill Steinhaus, the Republican incumbent. That means Ruggiero won't run for re-election as Wappinger town supervisor. Ruggiero said he would resign as party chairman if elected county executive.

It's looking like former Dutchess County Clerk Dick Anderson will try to win his old job back after he was defeated in 2003 by Colette Lafuente, the former Republican mayor of Poughkeepsie.

"He kind of told us after he narrowly lost last time that he wanted another shot," Ruggiero said.

Lafuente retired last year, and fellow Republican Brad Kendall was appointed to complete her term.

Anderson hasn't formally announced his campaign to challenge Kendall, though he has been seeking the support of party leaders around the county, Ruggiero said. The Town of Poughkeepsie Democrats already have endorsed Anderson.

The Democrats have two potential candidates considering a challenge to District Attorney Bill Grady. Ruggiero said neither has committed to running yet.

And Sheriff Butch Anderson, a Republican, seems safe for another term. No Democrat has come forward to challenge him, Ruggiero said, but there still is time.

As for the Legislature, nearly all of the Democrats' incumbent legislators are running for re-election, with the exception of Fred Knapp, who is running for Poughkeepsie mayor instead. Steve White will take Knapp's place as the Democratic candidate in District 9.

Whew! That's quite a bit to keep track of. And there will be more to report from the Republican side. Stay tuned.

Bill vs. Joe in November

It sounds like the past week has been eventful in county politics, with a Republican convention and slates coming together for county-wide elections this fall.

I guess I have some catching up to do. For now, here's some low-hanging fruit to pick. Wappinger Supervisor Joe Ruggiero, a Democrat, announced today he will challenge County Executive Bill Steinhaus, a Republican. This should be an interesting election.

More to come...

... but not until later this month. I'm on vacation next week, so Straw Poll will be on a short hiatus. If you have tidbits in the meantime, send them to me at dpaulsen@poughkeepsiejournal.com and I'll try to come back and hit the ground running.

Enjoy yourselves.

Bunnell is "torn," Kelly doesn't care

After about 10 months reporting on the Dutchess Legislature, there's one thing I've learned to expect: Legislator Fred Bunnell's regular requests to abstain from votes.

I haven't crunched the numbers, but I'd say he has abstained from more votes than any other legislator in my short time on the beat. It's a pretty safe bet that he'll do so at least once during each monthly cycle of meetings.

Years ago, when I was reporting on municipal government in Wausau, Wis., I grew accustomed to the rule that lawmakers couldn't abstain unless they had a good reason, usually a conflict of interest that prohibited them from voting. I think the idea was that lawmakers should be compelled to go on the record on issues by voting, and that we should expect them to make tough choices. That is what they are elected to do, after all.

So I was surprised to learn that Dutchess legislators don't have the same burden in justifying an abstention. All they need is permission from a committee chairman or the Legislature chairman.

Usually, when Bunnell asks to abstain, he cites some variation on the "lack of adequate information" explanation. Usually, the chairman grants his abstention.

Today was different.

When it came time for the Budget, Finance and Personnel Committee to vote on a measure increasing the county mortgage tax from 1 percent to 1.25 percent, Bunnell, a Poughkeepsie Democrat, said he would be abstaining. Committee Chairman David Kelly, a Pawling Republican, asked him why.

"I'm torn," Bunnell replied.

Kelly said that wasn't a good reason and told him to vote.

Bunnell protested Kelly's ruling before saying simply, "I choose not to vote."

"I take that as a 'no' vote," Kelly said, and moved on to the next legislator. The measure passed with unanimous Republican support and near unanimous Democratic opposition.

Near unanimous because one Democratic vote was missing. Legislator Fred Knapp had left the meeting early and was marked "absent."

Rail trails and campaign dollars

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus was a key participant in a workshop Tuesday on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, which was the basis of a story in today's Journal. Another key participant in the workshop was Clough Harbour & Associates, the design firm that is working on the rail trail for the county.

Straw Poll footnote: Clough Harbour also is a contributor to Steinhaus' campaign committee – at least $2,000, according to online records maintained by the State Elections Board.

Is this notable? Maybe. Maybe not.

Clough Harbour, after all, has spread thousands of dollars in campaign cash all over New York's political landscape. Eliot Spitzer's successful campaign for governor last year benefited from the firm's donations. So did John Bonacic, the Republican state senator from Orange County.

As for Steinhaus, he hasn't limited his corporate donor pool to Clough Harbour, either. His January campaign finance disclosure includes the names of a major developer (Ginsburg), a fitness center chain (Arteaga) and a Hyde Park lab that tests well water (Smith).

Gould and Knapp in the spotlight

Two sparsely-worded press releases spit out of the Poughkeepsie Journal fax machine today, each offering food for thought in city politics in Dutchess County.

And that means both cities in Dutchess County.

The first was from Dutchess County Legislator Fred Knapp, rumored to be considering a run against Poughkeepsie Mayor Nancy Cozean, a fellow Democrat. Knapp is holding a news conference Wednesday to discuss "City of Poughkeepsie Mayoral Campaign." He wouldn't reveal any more.

And in Beacon, Mayor Clara Lou Gould, the lone Republican behind the table these days at City Council meetings, is holding her own news conference Thursday.

When I was covering the southern Dutchess beat last year, the buzz in Beacon was whether Gould, 79, would step aside this year after 18 years as mayor. She played the tease this evening when asked if she will have news about her political future: "I think there might be," she said.

That's all we'll know until Thursday.

Wager will call Millbrook home

As Richard Wager tries to gain momentum for a bid for Congress in the 20th District, he can check one thing off his list: an address in the district.

Wager, a Republican, is a native of Hyde Park but lives in Manhattan, where he works for the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He and his wife closed Friday on a house in Millbrook, and he plans to spend more and more time upstate as the year progresses.

"We've got a wonderful house in a great little spot," Wager said. Three bedrooms. Built in 1898. Just outside the village. Furniture on the way.

Straw Poll had to ask: What did you pay for the place?

Wager declined to answer.

"It's good reconnecting with old friends," he said. "I obviously love the area, so we're very excited about the house."

And he said his fundraising for a potential 2008 challenge to U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, has been going so well that he's changed his exploratory committee to a full-fledged campaign committee: Wager for Congress.

It's a Grand Old Party at the Grand

The Dutchess County Republican Committee has scheduled its convention for May 16 at the Grand Hotel in Poughkeepsie, and there's still a tiny bit of suspense surrounding the party's picks for county-wide offices heading toward the November elections.

Committee Chairwoman Corinne Weber was still marveling at the result of the Kentucky Derby when Straw Poll contacted her by phone this evening to check in. (She didn't win any money.)

Weber said District Attorney William Grady, Sheriff Butch Anderson and Clerk Brad Kendall all have confirmed their interest in running on the Republican ticket. That leaves only County Executive William Steinhaus, who has yet to say publicly whether he will run for a fifth four-year term.

Straw Poll has a hunch. We'll know for certain soon: Weber said Steinhaus is expected to make an announcement sometime next week.

Candidates wanted

The Independence Party is looking for candidates in Dutchess County.

If you want to run this year for local office on the Independence line or with the party's endorsement, let party leaders know soon.

Send requests, including a contact phone number and the office you are seeking, post-marked by May 18 to Dennis Zack, P.O. Box 116, Fishkill, NY 12524, or Laura Downing, 25 Lincoln Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.

All the tax data you never knew you wanted

My name is Dave and I'm a numbers addict. Nothing excites me more than a well-plotted Excel spreadsheet, and I've been known to spend hours rummaging through government budgets to make sure the figures add up.

So when I discovered recently that Kathy Myers and her team of experts in the Dutchess County Real Property Tax Service Agency had used the county's Web site to post annual tax rate and assessment data back to 1973, I felt like I had won the lottery.

Why should anyone care? Well, a lot of people probably don't care. But if you're a numbers addict like me – or if you want to do some cutting-edge analysis of government fiscal trends over more than three decades – this is an indispensable resource.

For example, would you have guessed that the assessed value of properties in Rhinebeck was just over $35 million in 1973? It's nearly $1.3 billion today. And with revaluation a hot topic these days in Dutchess County, you can get a sense for how the numbers fell in past revaluations because the documents include each town's ever-changing equalization rates.

If I've put you to sleep with my numbers reverie, I apologize, but check back here later and I'll try to distill some of the figures into a few trends that might raise a few eyebrows. And let me know you find anything interesting in your own research.

Dollars for the districts

The state Senate recently released its report on member-item grants, also known as the "community projects fund," also known as pork-barrel spending, depending on your perspective.

You can scan for projects in your neck of the woods by visiting the Senate's reports Web page and downloading the pdf, but beware: It's 4,399 pages long. A good way to find local projects is to do a key word search for your county.

The Assembly posted its list of projects on its own reports page. That file, labeled "legislative initiatives," comes in at a modest 3,791 pages, but it's tougher to search because the projects aren't identified by county. Better to search for your Assemblyman's name.

Politics or public good?

Here are a couple of questions to ponder, one open-ended and the others more to the point.

First, is any aspect of government completely free of politics?

In this case, I'm not necessarily speaking of "politics" in the nefarious sense of the word, though certainly you could provide many examples to support that connotation. Rather I'm talking about the day-to-day business of getting things done in government. Political play seems to be written into the DNA of democracy.

This brings me to my more specific questions, which relate to the often strange beast known as the political appointment.

This press release was disseminated by Michael Kelsey, assistant to Dutchess Legislature Chairman Gary Cooper, R-Pine Plains. Some Democrats cried foul because it was the work of a county employee. Clearly the points made in the press release are political, at least in the general sense, but was the press release inappropriate?

For starters, here are a few things to consider.

Kelsey is on the county payroll. He was appointed by Cooper, who was chosen as chairman by the Republican majority in the Legislature. You can argue that Kelsey is being paid partly to push a Republican agenda, but isn't that to be expected?

The Democrats, if they were in the majority, surely would rely on an appointed chairman's assistant to push their own agenda? Or would they?

Regardless of who is in power, is such a position serving the public good? You might agree that the chairman needs an assistant to fulfill the administrative responsibilities that come with the top job in the Legislature. But when does public service cross the line into political campaigning, which isn't supposed to be done on the public's dime?

My guess is that Republicans and Democrats have differing takes on this scenario, but the underlying questions shouldn't be partisan. What do you think?

More Congressional election buzz

The race toward the starting line of the race for Congress in the mid-Hudson Valley continues. (Game time: November 2008.)

Roll Call, the insider newspaper on Capitol Hill, reported today that two multimillionaire Republicans are eyeing challenges to the just-elected Democrats in the 19th and 20th Congressional districts.

In the 20th District, which spans from Poughkeepsie to northern New York, former New York Republican Chairman Sandy Treadwell has filed papers to explore a challenge Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, according to Roll Call.

And in the 19th District, from Poughkeepsie south into Westchester, Andrew Saul, "a veteran of the fashion industry and the investment world," is considering a bid for the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, Roll Call reported.

The Roll Call story quotes Dutchess County Republican Chairwoman Corrine Weber as saying it might be a tough decision for county Republicans between Treadwell and fellow 20th District hopeful Richard Wager, a native of Hyde Park and son of a former Poughkeepsie Journal publisher.

You can access the Roll Call story here, but you'll need to subscribe to the Web site to read more than the first paragraph.

Polly Sigh a-go-go

No one knows how to party like political scientists know how to party. OK, so they aren't actually partying this weekend, but they will be having a major conference here in our back yard.

An estimated 200 or more political science panelists from this country and Canada will converge Friday at the FDR site in Hyde Park and Saturday on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie for the 61st annual conference of the New York State Political Science Association.

Gannett News Service's Albany bureau chief, Jay Gallagher, will deliver the keynote address Friday evening in Hyde Park. (Gannett also owns the Poughkeepsie Journal.)

The conference is intended for scholars, students and government officials, though others are welcome, too. If you're curious about the association click here.

A (mostly) unrelated side note: Some of you might be familiar with a song called "Political Scientist" by alt-country rocker Ryan Adams, who is scheduled to perform May 16 in Kingston.

The song, from the album "Love is Hell," is less about academics who teach and study political science than it is about the decay of civilization and politicians who allow it to happen. Bleak stuff, but perhaps it will end up as required listening in a college course someday.

But I'm not the PoJo's music writer. If that's your bag, check out John Barry's blog.

Campaign dollars still rolling in

I know it's a long time until the 2008 Congressional elections, but ...

Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, had amassed $342,000 in campaign cash by the end of the latest federal reporting period, which ended March 31. He started the period on Jan. 1 with $63,000, according to the Federal Election Commision.

Hall beat incumbent Republican Rep. Sue Kelly in November to win his first two-year term in Congress, and he isn't the only freshman with a growing war chest.

Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, had $552,000 in cash on had as of March 31. She started the quarter with $44,000 after unseating Rep. John Sweeney, the Republican incumbent, in November.

Contributions from political committees, as opposed to individuals, totaled about 30 percent of receipts for each representative.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, who ran unopposed last year, had a modest $69,000 on March 31.

This just in, from Wappinger

For all of you on Joe watch, here are a couple tidbits from the Wappinger town supervisor's State of the Town speech tonight that might fuel speculation.

Joe Ruggiero, a Democrat, is considering a run for Dutchess County executive this fall, but he also is considering staying put as Wappinger town supervisor. His hourlong speech, just completed at the Wappinger town hall, was mostly about the town, though he managed to get in a few jabs at incumbent County Executive William Steinhaus, a Republican.

Ruggiero refered to Steinhaus directly, though not by name, in talking about town-level efforts to promote affordable housing. He cited related comments in Steinhaus' State of the County speech earlier this year and described Steinhaus' ideas as unrealistic.

But the more pointed jab came when Ruggiero noted the recent collaboration between Wappinger, Fishkill and East Fishkill on private well-testing laws following Steinhaus' veto in February of a county-wide measure.

"Wappinger will join Fishkill and East Fishkill in protecting our resources, because it is obvious that Dutchess County doesn't care," Ruggiero said, rewriting the theme of Steinhaus' administration, "Dutchess County Government Cares."

Are Steinhaus and Ruggiero rivals? Maybe. (Ruggiero is chairman of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee, after all.) But Ruggiero said after the speech that he still hadn't made any decisions about his political future.

Dutch Cabin welcomes Young Dems

If you're registered with the party of FDR but weren't old enough to vote for Michael Dukakis (remember him?), then Sunday might be your night.

The Dutchess County Young Democrats will gather from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the Dutch Cabin Restaurant, 35 Fairmont Ave., near Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. The group will elect leaders and discuss its plans for 2007.

You can be a part of those plans if you're a registered Democrat of at least 18 years but not more than 35 years.

The group's president, Dan French, called 2006 a "strong year" filled with reorganizing and rebuilding. "In 2007, we will build upon this success as we make plans for our membership to make a difference by serving our community, working on local political campaigns and encouraging local candidates to address issues that affect young people," French said in a news release.

If instead you're registered with the party of Lincoln but weren't old enough to vote AGAINST Michael Dukakis (remember him?), surf on over to the Web site of the Dutchess County Young Republicans to see what they're up to. (They allow 40-year-olds, so some members might have first-hand stories of opposing Dukakis after all.)

A (possible) rival for Hall

With Democrats now monopolizing the Hudson Valley's seats in Congress, it should come as no surprise that Valley Republicans already are mobilizing for the 2008 elections.

Add Kieran Lalor to the list of Republican hopefuls.

Lalor, a native of Wappingers Falls, served six years in the Marine Corps and now lives with his family in Peekskill. He is an Iraq war vet and a self-described national security activist who has set his sights on unseating U.S. Rep. John Hall, the freshman Democrat from Dover Plains.

Federal campaign finance reports for the first quarter of 2007 won't be released until later this month, but Lalor said today his exploratory committee raised $20,000 in that period.

"This is an amazing accomplishment considering I didn’t have a penny on March 1 when I launched my website," he said in an e-mail.

Hall isn't the only one looking over his shoulder. U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, also serving her first two-year term in Congress, has her own list of potential Republican opponents, including Richard Wager, a native of Hyde Park (see previous Straw Poll post).

It's natural for Republicans to go after potentially vulnerable freshman like Gillibrand and Hall, who each won narrow victories against Republican incumbents last fall. But how about finding a challenger for U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey?

Hinchey, D-Hurley, is serving his eighth term after running unopposed last year. Any Republicans in the 22th District up for that battle in 2008?

A (possible) rival for Gillibrand

It's official. Richard Wager might be a candidate for Congress.

Wager, son of former long-time Poughkeepsie Journal publisher Dick Wager, filed papers this week to create an exploratory committee to, well, explore the possibility of challenging U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, in 2008.

"I'm excited to continue traveling the district listening to the hopes and concerns of its residents," Wager said in an e-mail. He plans to hold his first fundraiser this month with family and friends in his hometown of Hyde Park.

Wager, 36, is a 1989 Franklin D. Roosevelt High School graduate and works as an aide in the Republican administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He is one of several people mentioned as possible candidates for the Republican nomination in the 20th District, including former Congressman John Sweeney, whom Gillibrand defeated in November to win election to her first two-year term in Congress.

Wager also professes to be an avid reader of this blog, which predates his exploratory committee by only a couple weeks.

Steinhaus makes Washington plea

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus joined this week with the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors in letting Congress know that they don't like the changes proposed to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Steinhaus said the possible limits on reimbursements for health care providers operated by units of government would be a "devastating multi-million dollar impact" to Dutchess government.

His letter is addressed to U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton and U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey, Kirsten Gillibrand and John Hall. (Apology: Copies of the letters should be available here on Straw Poll, however the blogger is still trying to figure out how to do that. Stay tuned.)

On Joe's mind: town or county?

One of the biggest questions leading up to county-wide elections this year in Dutchess is, who will the Democrats chose as their nominee for county executive?

Lately, the question has become, will they pick Joe Ruggiero?

Ruggiero, the Wappinger town supervisor since 2002, is one of the most prominent Democrats in the county, partly because of his role as chairman of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee. But he isn’t tipping his hand. He said he’s not sure yet if he will pursue the county executive nomination.

“It’s a huge decision, if I decide to do it,” Ruggiero said. “I’m thinking it through.”

You might say he’s taking a page from Barack Obama’s political playbook. Obama, the junior U.S. senator from Illinois, fought back speculation last year about a possible candidacy for president in 2008 before finally admitting he was giving it some thought, mostly because so many people had been asking him about it.

Obama, a Democrat, now is a full-fledged candidate for president.

Ruggiero, 37, also has been fielding questions about his political ambitions while trying to tamp down the speculation. He said he doesn’t like what’s going on in county government under the watch of County Executive William Steinhaus, a Republican, but he also enjoys his work in the Town of Wappinger. If he stays put, he would have to run for re-election in November.

Town or county? Time will tell.

Molinaro caught in dodge (ball tournament)

If Marc Molinaro's political career doesn't work out, he might have a role waiting for him in a Ben Stiller sequel.

Assemblyman Molinaro, the freshman Republican from Tivoli, is capping his schedule in the district this week with the Taconic Hills High School junior class dodge ball tournament fundraiser on Friday, during which he is expected to volunteer as a referee.

For those of you unfamiliar with Stiller's brand of film comedy, dodge ball, that brutal old schoolyard game, gained in popularity after a 2004 movie starring Vince Vaughn and Stiller, his dodge ball nemesis. (It's no "All the President's Men," but it's a lot funnier.)

Only students are participating in this tournament, from 6-10 p.m. Friday at the Columbia County school, but spectators can donate $5 to see if Molinaro gets caught up in the action.

Introduction

Welcome to Straw Poll, a Poughkeepsie Journal blog on Dutchess County government and regional politics in which I’ll offer some insights in passing about what’s going on with your elected officials, the programs they manage, your money they spend and the politics that surrounds it all.

Reporters constantly face an uphill battle in parsing the often banal inner workings of government in search of interesting stories. The challenge is to convey how these public institutions affect the lives of ordinary residents. The blog format lends itself to insider tidbits for political junkies – and I’ll type those up as I get them – but I also hope to give readers relevant information on politics and government and maybe have a little fun in the process.

A little about myself: I’ve been reporting on Dutchess County government for only about six months, but I have several years of municipal government reporting experience, much of it while working for a small newspaper in Wisconsin. I spent my first year at the Poughkeepsie Journal reporting on the growing communities of southern Dutchess before moving to the county beat.

I’ll be looking for feedback from you to help refine the direction of Straw Poll. Send me your questions and concerns, and let me know whenever you hear any juicy political gossip.